Ministry of Foreign Affairs Lacks Proper Review Despite 'Disaster' of Busan Expo Bid Failure

Repeatedly Stating "Lost Because of Saudi"
Criticism by Kwon Chil-seung, Democratic Party Lawmaker

Despite the failure to secure the 2030 Busan World Expo, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been found to not conduct an in-depth analysis of the causes. Although the Ministry promised a thorough study on the failure to host the Expo, nearly a year later, it has been criticized for merely 'copy-pasting' initial analysis results such as 'because the competitor was Saudi Arabia.'

According to Kwon Chil-seung, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has repeatedly responded with explanations like 'due to oil money' and 'because the bidding activities started later than competing countries' regarding the failure to host the Expo. Previously, on November 30 last year, former Foreign Minister Park Jin promised, "The government will conduct an in-depth analysis of this failure to draw the right lessons," but has yet to present a proper analysis.

Last year, the government raised public expectations by revealing plans to overturn the disadvantage and advance to the final round in the Busan Expo bid, aiming for a last-minute comeback. However, in the actual vote, it only secured support from 29 out of 182 countries, resulting in a crushing defeat. At that time, Saudi Arabia won the Expo bid in the first round by gaining support from 119 countries.

Regarding this, the government reported to the Expo Special Committee in December last year that the reasons for Saudi Arabia's victory included ▲ Saudi Arabia’s faster bidding activities, ▲ support gained through religious solidarity, and ▲ backing by large-scale financial support such as oil money. Later, in August this year, the Ministry submitted an analysis report to the Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee’s budget subcommittee that was essentially a 'copy-paste' of the previous content. Despite the Expo bid failure being classified as a diplomatic disaster, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been repeating the government’s initial stance without undergoing a proper review process.

Rep. Kwon criticized, "The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been shamelessly recycling analysis materials that are hardly different from the initial responses right after the meeting. Why on earth are they so confident?" He also condemned the government’s perception regarding the analysis of Saudi Arabia’s Expo bid success, saying, "Isn’t it just that we lost because it was Saudi Arabia?"